Wednesday, 4 June 2014

New All-Ages Manga Adventure Inspired By The Latest Generation of Pokémon
Video Games Join an Expansive Catalog Of POKÉMON Manga Titles Published In
North America

San Francisco, CA, June 4,
2014 –
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and
manga in North America, has announced the acquisition of the domestic
publishing and digital media rights for the POKÉMON ADVENTURES X & Y manga
(graphic novel) series. The
manga is based on the Pokémon
X and Pokémon Y
video games, which launched globally for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems in
October 2013.

The new release will launch the latest story arc
for the popular entertainment property and joins VIZ Media’s expansive catalog
of POKÉMON manga and anime titles. The POKÉMON ADVENTURES X & Y series is
rated ‘A’ for All Ages and will debut its first volume in print and digitallyin December under the company’s
Perfect Square imprint. Future volumes of the series, which is also ongoing in
Japan, will be published twice yearly.

POKÉMON ADVENTURES X & Y
is written
by Hidenori Kusaka with artwork by Satoshi Yamamoto. As the
new Champion of the Pokémon Battle Junior Tournament in the Kalos region, X is
hailed as a child prodigy. But when all the media attention proves to be too
much for him, he holes up in his room to hide from everyone, including his best
friends. What will it take to get him to come out?! How about an attack on his
hometown of Vaniville Town by the two new Legendary Pokémon, Xerneas and
Yveltal, and a mysterious organization named Team Flare…?

“We
are proud to expand our Perfect Square manga catalog with the acquisition of POKÉMON
ADVENTURES X & Y and its positively themed story, dynamic characters and fun
cast of new Pokémon that is sure to delight young as well as adult readers,”
says Annette Roman, Editor. “We look forward to fans discovering the new series
later this year!”

POKÉMON is one of the most successful international
entertainment franchises of all time. More than 255 million POKÉMON video game
titles and 20 billion Pokémon Trading Cards have been sold to-date worldwide. Pokémon the Series: XY marked the 17th
season of POKÉMON animation andlaunched
in the U.S. on Cartoon Network in January 2014. VIZ Media and its Perfect
Square imprint are the official North American publishers of a variety of
popular POKÉMON manga graphic novel series such as POKÉMON ADVENTURES, POKÉMON
ADVENTURES: DIAMOND & PEARL, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HEART/GOLD SOUL/SILVER, POKÉMON
ADVENTURES: BLACK & WHITE as well as a variety of POKÉMON animated feature
films.

VIZ Media’s Perfect Square imprint focuses on
delivering original comics, manga (graphic novels) and other all ages’ books
with an emphasis on strong storytelling, eye-popping graphics, empowering
themes, and a dash of irreverence, that captures the imagination of a
whole new generation.

For more information on other manga titles from VIZ
Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About
VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered
in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the
best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.
Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies,
Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd.,
VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English
speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia,
New Zealand and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY
SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ
Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for
anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic
novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and
streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga
at www.VIZ.com.